"Safer" is subjective when it comes to this memory. Safer in comparison, certainly. Reiner hasn't set out to destroy the whole world. (Only Eren's world.) Reiner doesn't hold the future in his palm, secrets that could devastate the earth hidden within the very worst person to hold such power. The method of sharing this memory is safer, too; only Eren will see it, and no one else will find themselves pulled in.
But is the memory itself "safe"? Not at all. Not in Liberio, where its exposure would end in death—or worse. Maybe not in this world, either.
There is a reason Reiner spent the day hesitating. A reason he struggles not to fidget, frightened of consequences that realistically can't reach him here. A reason that when Eren offers him a way out—"You're sure?"—a voice that sounds like Reiner's mother demands he take it.
Reiner holds Eren's gaze. Wide green eyes, impossibly vivid. Still bright, despite everything. Still moving forward. Still alive.
He wants them to stay alive. He needs it.
"I want you to know," Reiner answers, ignoring the echo of his mother's voice. Reaching out, he presses the crystal into Eren's hand, holding it there. "No one else does. Only me and … the other person who was there."
When Eren activates the crystal, he'll find a deceptively short memory. He'll see a ten or eleven-year-old Reiner meeting a man he calls "dad." The familial resemblance is readily apparent, yet the man stares at his son in abject horror. Ignoring this reaction, Reiner presses forward, excited to be a Warrior—an honorary Marleyan. Excited to finally live together as a family with his Marleyan father.
That excitement lasts until the man screams in Reiner's face, lashing out in fear and anger. After calling his son an Eldian devil, the man flees, leaving a devastated Reiner pleading "wait" into empty air.
It's not a safe memory. But the only danger is to Reiner himself. Another sharpened blade pressed into Eren's hands; another vulnerability mapped out, as plain as the weak point on a Titan's nape; another way for Eren to ruin Reiner, should he choose.
gnaws on beautiful introspection
But is the memory itself "safe"? Not at all. Not in Liberio, where its exposure would end in death—or worse. Maybe not in this world, either.
There is a reason Reiner spent the day hesitating. A reason he struggles not to fidget, frightened of consequences that realistically can't reach him here. A reason that when Eren offers him a way out—"You're sure?"—a voice that sounds like Reiner's mother demands he take it.
Reiner holds Eren's gaze. Wide green eyes, impossibly vivid. Still bright, despite everything. Still moving forward. Still alive.
He wants them to stay alive. He needs it.
"I want you to know," Reiner answers, ignoring the echo of his mother's voice. Reaching out, he presses the crystal into Eren's hand, holding it there. "No one else does. Only me and … the other person who was there."
When Eren activates the crystal, he'll find a deceptively short memory. He'll see a ten or eleven-year-old Reiner meeting a man he calls "dad." The familial resemblance is readily apparent, yet the man stares at his son in abject horror. Ignoring this reaction, Reiner presses forward, excited to be a Warrior—an honorary Marleyan. Excited to finally live together as a family with his Marleyan father.
That excitement lasts until the man screams in Reiner's face, lashing out in fear and anger. After calling his son an Eldian devil, the man flees, leaving a devastated Reiner pleading "wait" into empty air.
It's not a safe memory. But the only danger is to Reiner himself. Another sharpened blade pressed into Eren's hands; another vulnerability mapped out, as plain as the weak point on a Titan's nape; another way for Eren to ruin Reiner, should he choose.